There are a few other things to dissect though. Research firm like Cowen and Company believe that the split from Activision was due to the difference in vision over the game’s direction. Schreier notes that an annualized format of content release was a source of tension as well. Activision is also apparently looking to strengthen its own brands like Call of Duty, even if that means a short-term financial slump from losing Destiny.

"Those who have been in touch with reports over the years know that the situation between Bungie and Activision wasn’t quite so cut and dry."

Not that it matters to fans cheering at Activision’s removal from the equation. The Destiny subreddit wants to proclaim this as “Destiny Freedom Day”. Others have suddenly become more interested in purchasing Eververse items since Activision is not involved. Many believe that Bungie will finally have a chance to shine without an overbearing publisher looking over their shoulder.

Those who have been in touch with reports over the years know that the situation between Bungie and Activision was more than a little complicated. When the much-hyped 10 year deal was penned between both companies, Bungie agreed to deliver numerous Destiny titles and expansions in between those sequels under Activision’s label. Plans went for a toss when Destiny had been delayed from its original 2013 release date to early 2014. It then received another delay to September 2014.

Reports from Schreier and high-profile departures like writer Joseph Staten and composer Martin O’Donnell indicated that all was not well in development though. Once Destiny launched, it was a jumbled mess of plot points, shallow gameplay, fundamental design flaws and networking issues. Such issues were exacerbated with The Dark Below, Destiny’s first major DLC. It featured mission maps similar to the base game but backwards and a buggy as hell raid. Don’t even try to remind players about the process of re-leveling Exotics.

"Destiny had some bumps here and there but was at its peak going into the reveal of Destiny 2 in May 2017."

House of Wolves would improve things, especially for PvP since Trials of Osiris was introduced for hardcore competitive players to indulge in, but not by a huge margin. We eventually learned that the final product of Destiny was meant to encompass the base game, the first two DLC and The Taken King expansion. When Destiny was apparently rebooted in 2014, a spanner was thrown into plans and the additional content was sold off as separate DLC.

However, after The Taken King, Bungie seemed to be back on track. Festival of the Lost was neat. Sparrow Racing League was pretty cool. Crimson Days was lame but hey, new content, and the April 2017 update provided plenty of new, interesting things for PvE fans to engage with. For the most part, it seemed that Destiny was firing on all cylinders even if Bungie made many of us skeptical with its introduction of the Eververse.

Then we learned about Rise of Iron, Destiny’s next expansion, releasing in September 2016. Why was Rise of Iron releasing in September 2016?

According to Schreier, Destiny 2 was pushed back to 2017 because Bungie had rebooted development. Luke Smith was appointed director and the previous director left the company (but that fact would only be revealed later). As for Rise of Iron, it released to a middling reception. The Wrath of the Machine raid was praised but the story missions and overall content were criticized for regressing from The Taken King’s brilliance. The Festival of the Lost returned as a microtransaction-laden debacle but Bungie made good on things with The Dawning and Age of Triumph. Destiny had some bumps here and there but was at its peak going into the reveal of Destiny 2 in May 2017.

"Eventually, Schreier would report how Bungie renegotiated terms with Activision for Destiny 2. Its previous content cycle was thought to be too rigorous and producing so much content was deemed too difficult."

Bungie unveiled some controversial changes for the sequel but it’s a testament to the will of the community that things still looked pretty good. We heard about Lost Sectors, Adventures, World Quests, and tons more content to sink our eager teeth into. Destiny 2 would go on to become an incredible financial success at launch. Critics even lauded it for being an improvement over the first game.

However, as time passed, it was hounded by numerous issues concerning the end-game. Exotics were useless. The raid meant nothing and thus, hitting max Power level meant nothing. The Lost Sectors were rendered useless in the end-game simply because they gave lower level loot. PvP was a snooze-fest and encompassed team-shooting above all. A number of awesome looking cosmetics, previously earned through in-game activities like Strikes and the raid, were locked behind Eververse. Bungie’s decisions when it came to things like one-time use shaders, XP throttling, charging for Heroic Strikes, locking the base game’s raid behind the purchase of DLC and stingy seasonal events didn’t help matters.

Eventually, Schreier would report on how the developer renegotiated terms with Activision for Destiny 2. Its previous content cycle was thought to be too rigorous; producing so much content was deemed too difficult. So instead, Bungie would focus more on cosmetic content through the Eververse and Seasons. As more cosmetic items landed up on Tess Everis’s shelves over the months, it seemed like Schreier’s report had plenty of truth to it.

"Bungie’s track record when it comes to development has been less than stellar. It rebooted Destiny 1 and 2 before their subsequent launches."

Of course, there was still DLC like Curse of Osiris and Warmind. Activision-owned studios like High Moon Studios and Vicarious Visions were assisting Bungie with content as the latter spent 2018 trying to get back on the good side of its longtime fans. It talked more and more about catering to the hobbyist, changing up its weapon slot system and bringing back random rolls for weapons and armour. Masterworks, Exotic revamps, Nightfall Challenges, Bounties and much more were introduced before Forsaken to appease the hardcore player. Bungie even announced the Annual Pass, something that would provide a consistent stream of “end-game” content after Forsaken, as it seemingly moved towards away from more cinematic adventures towards a much deeper grind.

In September 2018, Forsaken launched and was met with praise from critics and hardcore fans. Sure, there was dissent about the heavy RNG-based nature of Bungie’s content (like earning Exotics) and it also didn’t help that some activities were time-gated. But Forsaken delivered a good story (by Destiny standards), a great raid and tons of new loot to collect. The majority of Forsaken was also accessible to all players. Gating content behind high Power requirements, boring quest grinds and baffling puzzles really didn’t stick out as major issues until Black Armory came around.

If you’ve been keeping track of the story thus far, you might have noticed a common theme: Bungie’s track record when it comes to development has been less than stellar. It rebooted Destiny 1 and 2 before their subsequent launches. Throughout the history of both games, Bungie would also prove to be completely out of touch with its community’s needs, taking months to fix long-standing issues.

"For all intents and purposes, Bungie going independent and being free to pursue its own development cycle for Destiny is good."

Only a major exodus of players following the launch of Destiny 2 and Curse of Osiris (not to mention the failure of events like Faction Rally, Iron Banner and The Dawning 2017) would motivate the developer to sit down and actually address concerns. Even now, Destiny 2 is still lacking on issues like competitive PvP matchmaking, endgame economy items like Enhancement Cores and not locking DLC content that players paid for behind ridiculous requirements. And yes, one-time user shaders, awesome cosmetics locked behind Eververse, time-gated content and heavy RNG are still problematic. Did we mention Trials of the Nine was removed before Forsaken and has yet to return?

For all intents and purposes, Bungie going independent and being free to pursue its own development cycle for Destiny is good. However, the enthusiasm for the developer’s approach doesn’t look all that different from when it split from Microsoft.

“Finally, we’d get to see the developer separated from the evil corporation and free to pursue its own vision!” “Finally, we’d get the very best that Bungie could deliver!” That wasn’t quite the case though, as evidenced by the barreling rollercoaster that is the Destiny franchise. I’m no fan of Activision (especially following their treatment of Call of Duty creators Vince Zampella and Jason West) but reading about the additional time and resources, not to mention the new deals it negotiated with Bungie, makes it look like a publisher tried to help rather than impede Destiny’s progress.

"But hey, if you’re a Destiny player, all of this should be very familiar. Destiny has offered experiences to a player base that simply can’t get enough of it."

What this split means for the future of Destiny 2 is still unknown. Cowen and Company believes that Destiny 3 is still coming in 2020. Rumours regarding its content and features along with a greater emphasis on RPG mechanics have been doing the rounds for a few months. Will the studio repeat the same mistakes as before? What’s the plan for content after the Annual Pass? Will we receive another expansion and another Annual Pass until Destiny 3 comes out? Will Bungie scrap the idea of sequels altogether? Will Destiny go free to play? What’s the plan for Eververse? How likely is it that Bungie announces Destiny 3’s exclusivity on the Epic Games Store for PC in the coming years? Will the core issues with leadership that caused Staten and O’Donnell to leave in the first place be fixed?

Blame Activision all you want but Bungie was and still is the company developing the series. How it addressed the issues that plagued both games at their respective launches is available for all to see. It’s currently fine with the stingy RNG for Exotics and Power level system that makes much of the loot irrelevant. It’s the company that said Black Armory’s Niobe Labs was for anyone that was “smart and brave enough to attempt it” in a now-deleted tweet after frustrated attempts by players. At least it went ahead and unlocked the last Forge when no one could figure out the solution.

If you’re a Destiny player, all of this should be very familiar. Destiny has offered experiences to a player base that simply can’t get enough. I should know, having been part of that player base for a few years. Even when the content didn’t quite measure up, I plunked down my own money and waited till launch to join the hype train. Destiny has been a franchise that’s provided some truly amazing moments while simultaneously making me question the numerous blunders that could have been avoided. Looking back, at the end of the day, maybe everyone just wants that same kind of experience without the fear of Activision mucking everything up.

"Can Bungie adhere to long-time fans and become successful in its own right? Can it attract even more players to its franchise in the coming years?"

For Bungie, the real test begins now. Without the big bad villainous publisher for people to deflect blame to when things go wrong, it will take the brunt of not delivering worthwhile content and financial failure. Will it sink or swim in the process? This is an industry that’s being defined more by games-as-a-service titles like Call of Duty: Black Ops 4 and Fortnite: Battle Royale. That’s not including beloved free to play games like Path of Exile or Warframe. Additional competition from blockbusters like Anthem and The Division 2 is also coming. Can Bungie adhere to long-time fans and achieve the potential that Destiny seemingly promised all those years ago? Can it attract even more players in the coming years?

It’s hard to say but unlike October 2007, this isn’t a Bungie that inspires confidence. It’s a Bungie that makes me cautious of investing time or money in their products. Here’s hoping for the future to change. As a member of the Bungie.net forums so aptly put it though: We’re finally going to see who was responsible for Destiny’s failings – Bungie or Activision.

Changing Soldiers’ Names – Heroes and Generals

Free to play titles generally tend to make their money back through microtransactions, whether they’re cosmetic or pay-to-skip the grind. Heroes and Generals in 2016 decided to go an entirely new and dumb route however. When players would recruit new soldiers, they had to pay to change their names. It’s one thing if this is a user profile name or Gamertag but in-game soldier names?

Remember when Bungie announced that Destiny 2’s Curse of Osiris and Warmind DLCs would be free on purchasing Forsaken? Though this wasn’t the case when Forsaken launched in September, the developer later changed this to allow more players to hop into the experience. While it was a good deal for newbies, what about existing players, especially those who had dropped money on the DLCs prior to Forsaken’s release?

Bungie had announced the Veterans of the Hunt package for this purpose, which included such rewards as a unique emblem, two emotes, and an exclusive shader. While the developer originally planned to release these in early December, it’s since pushed the rewards back. It’s now planning to distribute the packages with Update 2.1.3, which has a tentative release date of December 18th.

Of course, any issues that come up with the update could mean a delay. That will lead to the Veterans of the Hunt package being delayed in turn. Regardless, Bungie hasn’t forgotten about the rewards, especially as the release of Destiny 2’s next DLC Black Armory nears its release.

Halloween is still two weeks away, but the spooky celebrations have already begun in Bungie’s Destiny 2. Its newest event, Festival of the Lost, is now live, and brings some interesting new content, along with new cosmetics, bounties, and items to earn. Of course, it also has masks, and this time, they serve a deeper gameplay purpose, thanks to the Haunted Forest.

A re-skinned version of the Infinite Forest from the Curse of Osiris DLC, the Haunted Forest sees players delving into several “branches”, defeating enemies as quickly as possible before fighting a boss. Higher branches will add modifiers like increased melee damage from enemies, decreased health and shields (but more recovery), and increased damage while airborne. Clear as many branches as possible in 15 minutes and you receive Fragmented Souls.

These can be used to purchase new masks, upgrade particular masks with perks for the Haunted Forest (like health regen on precision kills), and also to purchase the new Horror Story auto rifle. Festival of the Lost will be offering even more in subsequent weeks – a quest line centered on the murder of Master Ives goes live on October 30th. The event itself ends on November 6th.

Festival of the Lost returns to the Destiny franchise, but for many Destiny 2 players, this will be their first time experiencing the event. Though Bungie has already released details for what can be expected, a new trailer offers some tangible gameplay. Along with showcasing Halloween-like decorations in the Tower, the trailer also reveals the Haunted Forest.

And no, you’re not imagining things – The Haunted Forest is actually the Infinite Forest from the Curse of Osiris DLC. However, it’s been repurposed as a procedural dungeon crawling experience with a time limit. “Delve” deeper (catch that reference?) and the enemies become tougher. Rewards include double Bright Engrams and the Horror Story, a Legendary auto rifle with Zen Moment, and Rampage. Even better, it’s fully Masterworked and drops at 600 Power.

The trailer also teases a “mystery” that awaits all players when the festival comes to a close. We already know there’s a quest line to solve the murder of Master Ives, former Cryptarch of the Reef, with powerful rewards to gain. Could this “mystery” be tied to that? Or will it help segue into Destiny 2’s next major content drop Black Armory? Festival of the Lost starts on October 16th and ends on November 6th, so there’s plenty of time to find out.

If you’re still wary about playing Bungie’s Destiny 2, especially since Forsaken requires owning Curse of Osiris and Warmind, then there’s good news. In its recent weekly update, the developer announced that the Expansion Pass will soon be included with Forsaken at no extra cost. This change will go into effect starting on October 16th.

Originally, anyone who played Destiny 2 (or received it free as part of their PlayStation Plus subscription) would have to purchase the Expansion Pass, and then Forsaken. However, newcomers could invest in the Destiny 2: Forsaken Legendary Collection, which includes the base game, the Expansion Pass, and Forsaken, all for $59.99.

This change is pretty cool, especially for those who want to skip paying for the terrible Curse of Osiris and underwhelming Warmind DLCs. As for players who purchased the Expansion Pass before diving into Forsaken, they’ll receive exclusive benefits, like a unique Emblem and shader, a few consumables (which can be earned in-game), and two emotes – Knife Trick and Coin Flip – for free.

“Forsaken Veterans” can expect these bonuses in December. Though the Emblem and shader will remain exclusive, the two new emotes will be coming to Eververse at an unspecified point in the future. With Festival of the Lost out next week and introducing some cool new ideas, it isn’t such a bad time to hop into Destiny 2.

With Destiny 2’s Curse of Osiris DLC out now, Bungie have been working on identifying and fixing known issues with the game. Bungie’s official Twitter helpdesk account has posted information on new issues that they’ve been able to find, relating to inventory and challenges.

In one tweet, Bungie confirmed that they’ve identified an issue where Masterwork Cores are prevented from being recovered to the Postmaster in case the player’s inventory is full. In another tweet, they identified another issue, where challenges are currently unavailable in Crucible Quickplay. They also went on clarify that this issue doesn’t impact alternate crucible playlists.

While these have been identified, Bungie have not yet been able to come up with any known fixes for these. That said, we expect them to fix both these issues in upcoming patches.

Curse of Osiris seems to be full of many problems, though, both big and small. We recently reviewed the DLC, and it’s fair to say we weren’t very pleased with what we saw. You can find out what our problems with it were in our review here.

We have identified an issue that prevents Masterwork Cores from recovering to the Postmaster if a player’s consumable inventory is full. For more info: https://t.co/XFg2fiVhLz

— Bungie Help (@BungieHelp) December 14, 2017

We have identified an issue where Challenges are not currently available in Crucible Quickplay. Alternate Crucible playlists are not impacted. For more: https://t.co/XFg2fiVhLz

— Bungie Help (@BungieHelp) December 12, 2017

Bungie are launching the first expansion for Destiny 2 tomorrow, and ahead of that launch, they have released a brand new launch trailer to celebrate the first content drop for the sequel to their genre defining shared world shooter.

The expansion will take players to Mercury, introduce new campaign missions, addition to The Crucible, and add new gear and weapons to the game. On the whole, the more fundamental issues players have with Destiny 2 will not be resolved by the expansion- but Bungie has already confirmed that it will be steadily fixing those in a series of updates recently, so Destiny players at least have that to look forward to.

Destiny 2 launched on the PS4 and Xbox One back in September, with a PC release following a little over a month later. Thankfully, there will be no such delay with the expansion- it will be available on all three platforms tomorrow, on December 5.

Bungie are due to roll out a couple of pretty big updates for Destiny 2 in the next few days, alongside Curse of Osiris, the first major DLC for the game, which is also right around the corner. In light of that, the studio recently took to Twitter to confirm a few details about these future updates with fans.

Bungie firstly confirmed that servers for the game will offline on Tuesday, the 5th of December, expectedly from 7 AM to 10 AM PST. This is being done to make sure the server is ready for the launches of both, Update 1.1.0, as well as the launch of the Curse of Osiris DLC.

In another tweet, Bungie confirmed that both the update and the DLC will be available for download on the 5th of December at 8 Am PST, and that the DLC and the game will become playable once the server maintenance is finished. The Update, by the way, is going to introduce pretty important improvements and fixes as well, such as masterwork weapons and vendor fixes. A Reddit user recently compiled the upcoming fixes in a single post– you can check it out below.

Destiny 2 is out now for the PS4, Xbox One and PC. Stay tuned to GamingBolt for continued coverage on the game.

Known changes & improvements

December 5

• Armor Ornaments (for Vanguard/Crucible/Trials/Iron Banner/Factions/Raid Lair)
• Rare mods dismantle into gunsmith materials + chance of mod components
• Banshee sells legendary mods for mod components + legendary shards (selection rotates daily)
• Rahool sells legendary engrams for legendary shards
• Daily challenges and strikes reward an increased number of tokens
• Cayde’s chests will always reward at minimum some tokens of the destination
• Resources nodes will always drop resources (100% drop rate)
• Increased values of resources (+50% for common, +250% for rare)
• Reputation required per reward engram will increase for destination factions (+37%) and gunsmith (+50%)
• Leviathan raid tokens can be redeemed without needing to complete the raid once
• Remaining raid keys will be wiped from the inventory on weekly reset
• Daily and weekly resets time change: 9am PST / 12pm EST / 5pm GMT (UK) / 6pm CET(Europe)
• 4K HDR support on PS4 Pro and Xbox One X

December 12

• Masterwork weapons
• Most vendors sell armor and weapons for tokens + legendary shards
• Xur sells Fated Engrams & Three of Coins
• Zavala and Shaxx sell Gift consumables for Legendary Shards (bonus rewards on strike or match completion)
• Relaxed anti-farming cooldown on chests and resource nodes
• Vendors don’t blink on the map if you don’t have enough tokens for an engram

Destiny 2 will be brought offline on Tuesday (12/05) for server maintenance in preparation for Update 1.1.0 and Curse of Osiris. Expected duration is 7 AM PST to 10 AM PST: https://t.co/Ocy0lEVMfq

— Bungie Help (@BungieHelp) December 2, 2017

Destiny 2 Update 1.1.0 and the Curse of Osiris DLC will be available to download at 8 AM PST on Tuesday (12/05) and will be available to play once server maintenance has ended. https://t.co/5vx4u7qXo1

— Bungie Help (@BungieHelp) December 2, 2017

Hello Neighbor

Have you ever wanted to play a stealth game where your neighbor was the enemy, probably wanted to kill you and had an adaptive AI to prevent you from trying the same trick twice? Hello Neighbor is probably your best bet. It’s an intriguing mix of survival and stealth as you explore numerous different ways to infiltrate your neighbor’s home. Recent updates have diversified the gameplay even further with the ability to double jump and escape the neighbor should you be caught. The real question is whether Hello Neighbor will finally hit its December 8^th release date and not suffer another delay. It arrives for Xbox One, PC and Mac OS.

Xenoblade Chronicles 2

Nintendo has been continuously scoring home runs this year, offering a good to great Switch title almost every month since launch. Xenoblade Chronicles 2 from Monolith Soft joins that club and it’s certainly a momentous title to close the year with. Along with a massive open world that should – if it’s anything like previous titles – offer hundreds of hours of gameplay, Xenoblade Chronicles 2 has a new story. Set on the backs of Titans, a scavenger named Rex discovers a Blade known as Pyra and must take her to Elysium, a paradise of sorts. There are colourful characters to meet along the way, different Blades to acquire, abilities to learn, combos to create and beautiful areas to explore. Xenoblade Chronicles 2 is out on December 1^st for the Nintendo Switch.

Resident Evil 7: End of Zoe/Not A Hero

It’s hard to believe that this year began with an excellent title like Resident Evil 7 and to cap that off, we’ll be receiving not one but two DLC on December 12^th. Not A Hero is the free DLC focusing on Chris Redfield and his hunt for Lucas Baker after the main story while End of Zoe is a paid DLC pack that sees Zoe meeting up with a stranger named Joe. It’s also the same day that Resident Evil 7: Gold Edition launches so you can experience all previously released DLC along with the new additions in one great package.

Okami HD

After many, many moons, Capcom is finally fulfilling my wish of seeing Okami on PC. The fact that this is Okami HD, a remaster of the classic action adventure Zelda-like title, and it’s also coming to PS4 and Xbox One doesn’t hurt either. If you’ve never played Okami, it follows the tale of Amaterasu, who must stop the eight headed demon Orochi from conquering the land. More than just a higher resolution and widescreen support, Okami HD offers the chance to revisit one of the most underrated video games of the PS2 era. It releases on December 12^th.

Battlefield 1: Turning Tides

December marks the release of Battlefield 1’s next DLC Turning Tides. Or at least, it’s the first stage of the content release which will include battles on land, sea and air along with two new maps – Cape Helles and Achi Baba – out this month (an additional two maps arrive next month). You can expect six new weapons like the M1917 Trench Carbine, Type 38 Arisaka and the M1917 MG among other weapons. New vehicles, a new faction, a new Operation and the Conquest Assault mode where players must take back and hold areas occupied by defenders will also be coming. The first wave of content will arrive on December 11^th 2017 for Xbox One, PS4 and PC players while the second wave is out in January 2018.

Destiny 2: Curse of Osiris

Despite every single indication that this will be another bland DLC for Bungie’s Destiny 2, Curse of Osiris at least offers…some new story. Essentially, you’ll be looking for Osiris, the legendary Warlock, and attempting to battle the Vex’s next big evil plan. This involves heading to Mercury and The Infinite Forest, which offers random arrangements of levels and time periods, along with forging new weapons. There’s even something called a raid lair to add on to the Leviathan and which should hopefully be more fulfilling. Destiny 2: Curse of Osiris is out on December 5^th for Xbox One, PS4 and PC.

DOOM VFR

After bringing DOOM to the Nintendo Switch by some miracle, Bethesda Softworks is now gearing up for DOOM VFR. This is the virtual reality version of the game but it still maintains the demon slaying, bone-tearing, arm-ripping action that defined the original. While we’re not sure how the fast-paced experience will translate to virtual reality – where the less insane movement, the better – but it certainly has us intrigued. DOOM VFR will be coming to PlayStation VR and HTC Vive via Steam on December 1^st.

Fallout 4 VR

More Fallout 4? Yes, there’s more Fallout 4 and this time, it’s heading to HTC Vive. The controversial first person shooter/RPG has seen a number of updates, DLC, the Creation Club with its lame add-ons and so on. But this time, we get to do it all in virtual reality. The highlight of Fallout 4 VR is the fact that this isn’t just a slice of the game. It’s the entire experience and for what it’s worth, early impressions seem favourable if not outright excited. Still, if you want something to justify that VR purchase that isn’t called DOOM VFR, then Fallout 4 VR will be available on December 12^th via Steam.

PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds (Xbox One)

One of the most eagerly anticipated Xbox One exclusives isn’t even from Microsoft, nor did it start out as an Xbox title. We’re talking about PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds, the 100 person Last Man Standing title that’s swept the world with 22 million copies sold on Steam. From its humble roots on Early Access, PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds has shattered a number of records on Steam and version 1.0 is currently in the testing phase. That version will release in late December for PC users but Xbox One players can look forward to playing it through Xbox Game Preview on December 12^th.

Final Fantasy 15: Episode Ignis

So it’s not exactly meant to be the meatiest content releasing for a game in December but Final Fantasy 15: Episode Ignis does look pretty fun. Releasing on December 13^th, the DLC will focus on Ignis as he temporarily teams up with Ravus Nox Fleuret aka Luna’s brother in order to secure the safety of both Noctis and Luna. Ignis’s abilities are pretty interesting as he throws spell dagger and can target numerous enemies at once. The story should also help fill in some awkward holes – like how Ignis was blinded and what other events occurred in Altissia while Leviathan was stomping around.